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Monday, January 2, 2012

My Genealogy Goals for 2012

My class load this year will really start to wind down, so I will need to start to focus more and have some goals if I'm going to get any major genealogy research done. So I have set quite a few goals for myself for the upcoming year based on what I've been thinking about these past few weeks and hoping that I could start working on one of these days. I have organized my goals in to categories to hopefully help me keep even more focus. One thing I do not have on this list is a goal towards increasing my genealogy expertise. I think this will occur naturally and can be incorporated once I get a feel for how the ebb and flow of my life will start to take shape. So without further ado, here is my list:

Think outside the box:

Extend my research to University collections, for example, the Thomas Hume papers at UNC (and evaluate Mildred Holladay's papers from UVA which Lori ordered)

Search for brick walls on Google and in Google Books - maybe do one surname per week

Search for brick walls in newspaper archives online

Organization:

Organize my paper files and file cabinet

Scan, transcribe, abstract, and analyze all of the documents I have retrieved in the past 7 years of research (they are in a pile), file them in respective family folder(s); add the relevant information to my genealogy database and submit transcripts to respective USGenWeb sites

DNA:

Connect with 5 more Family Finder matches - I connected with 5 from July to Dec of 2011, so this shouldn't be a problem

Sort through my Family Finder matches by maternal and paternal - my mother took the test in Dec so this should help me sort through them

Work more closely with existing Family Finder matches from July-Dec to exchange historical data and recent data; my goal is not just establish a connection then never speak to them again, but to build a relationship with them; ask them for photos, documents, etc...share, share, share!

Try to connect some American Godwins to English or Irish Godwins via Y-DNA

Tessa, thank you for stopping by. I just checked out your blog for the first time and enjoyed reading about your Jan 2012 goals as well. I wish you all the luck and I look forward to hearing more about them!

Ginger, your image gave me a good laugh. I just wrote a post yesterday in which I stated that I was not going to set goals this year but, instead, make a to do list. Let's hope my list continues after the first week of the year!

You have quite a plateful of goals for 2012. I wish you all the best in accomplishing them all.

Thank you everyone for your support. Nancy and Cherie, I'm not sure where the comic originated from. It was posted on so many blogs and webpages that I could not find the original source. I'm sure it was from the newspaper somewhere. But it seemed fitting. I'm glad you liked it!

Amy, happy 2012 to you too!!!

Shelley, thank you for the best wishes! We'll see how it goes and good luck on your goals as well!

About Me

Contact Me: Ginger R. SmithI am an avid genealogist and librarian living in Durham, NC. I do extensive research at the North Carolina State Archives for my Brooks and Godwin families. If you would like assistance locating records at the Archives, please feel free to email me. This blog highlights my research and DNA testing updates. Please check out my Surname Page to see if we have any relatives in common!